move over mr fopp, there is a new player in your broken town.

in the last few months, i have come to realise that the most fun to be had during my lunch hour is scouring the cd racks that are hidden at the back of poundland (or is it now 97p land when there is a 99p shop nearby !).

of course, the majority of the cds are boyband/landfill indie crap, but careful eyes can sometimes spot something a little more interesting making the pocket money go that little further.

todays random haul

ruby - salt peter : excellent dark leftfield trip hop that i have wanted to get for years.

cj bolland - the analogue theatre : rather wonderful old school techno album that still sounds amazing despite being made in '96.

dan sartain vs the serpients - s/t : lo-fi garage. love it.

the lucky nine - true crown foundation : total random pickup due to cool cover art. turns out its a scream/emo core supergroup with people from hundred reasons and 'a'. not too bad.

oh, and throw in a 2 litre of milk .. and still change from a fiver.

previous finds :

dave clarke - devils advocate,
paul weller - heliocentric,
william orbit - pieces in a modern style.

all of which are worth a coin.

am i alone in this enjoying this new source of random finds as these even beat the amazon marketplace due to no postage costs ?

note : nothing beats a proper record/cd emporium, but many towns no longer have such luxuries ..

Are these "refurbished" CDs? I noticed a Morrissons had a similar section of used but guaranteed CDs (I'm guessing from Music Magpie?)

yeah, they are.

and yes, i suspect magpie has to be the source ..

still you have got to love random finds ..

2 of the albums today have been on my 'one day i will get them .. ' list ..

The ones I bought were 'refurbished' but were like new..got "This Is Shelby Lynne" and a Simon & Garfunkel "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme"...good for a couple of quid...Oh and a big bar of Toblerone...

ooh .. just remembered, i picked up the lounge album that the fun lovin' criminals released.
seems to be loads of copies of that available.
more fool those who hand that over for pennies.

tis probably the best thing they ever did.

(that said this is the year i hit the lounge/easy thing hard .. so take such a declaration with a pinch of salt)

not often you ever see a 'classic' pre late 80s release in the racks though, so bravo on the S&G spot ..

I still rep for that Ruby album, with the Peshay remix a classic piece of 90s drum and bass.

I've only ever found a couple of gems among the boyband/landfill indie crap in Poundland:

Miles Ahead - Miles Davis; and
the third Lene Marlin album (which I realise most of you will think of as a par with aforementioned boyband/landfill indie crap, but I've always really liked her first album - at least one copy in every charity shop in the country, if anyone's interested);
oh, and 'The Greatest Football Songs Ever' which I bought because it had the England 1970 World Cup Squad's 'Back Home' which I loved when I was about nine!

I found a copy of The La's album a few months back.
Got Voodoo by D'Angelo in October.
A good Sam & Dave greatest hits set too.
Exodus by Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Probably the weirdest was a collection of Russian hymn and folk songs called "God Save the Tsar", performed by "The Male Quintet of Livadia Emperors' The Holy Cross Exaltation Church". Still not listened to that one yet, but the Cyrillic title on the spine drew it to my attention.

well, the weirdest ever was a compilation entitled "The Best of Soft Metal", including hair metal ballads by the likes of Spandau Ballet ("True" is a headbangers' anthem apparently?).

other artists in this collection included Richard Marx (Right Here Waiting), The Police (Synchronicity II) and Starship (We Built This City).

I did not purchase the CD.

joy of joys.

seems we have a new diggers paradise for those of low budgets and flexible demands ..

if i see d'angelo/voodoo, that f*cker is mine.

as far as i know the greenwich peninsula poundland still has a copy of my computer's 2005 album 'no cv' which is a goddamned fucking unknown masterpiece and more ppl shd hear it

as far as i know the greenwich peninsula poundland still has a copy of my computer's 2005 album 'no cv' which is a goddamned fucking unknown masterpiece and more ppl shd hear it

hang on ..

poundland is a usa operation as well as uk ..

are they connected ?

oh, and re my computer : prefered the one lady owner album myself ..

have tried the my computer albums several times due to ilm love, but the penny has yet to drop ..

(will try again tomorrow as the need to have another go will kick in .. )

My dad picked up a copy of Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads from a Poundland-style operation today too. The original tracklist, not just a generic compilation, so very much looking forward to listening to that. A boon time is upon us!

oooh .. agreed, its all about spotting the genuine stuff vs the generics ..

however, i do find myself having to resist the lure of the landfill indie excess.

'oooh you never know that delays album might be alright, did i not read an good review on allmusic re them at one point ..'

greenwich peninsula in london lol

oh.

this confirms i am officially a west country fuckwit.

i see the word peninsula and that sounds way too exotic for anything in the uk ..

iirc last time I found a Gilles Peterson mix CD and a Dave Angel album (but not one of his better ones) nestling among the 6000 Robbie Williams CDs. Possibly not real gems but unexpected and worth a quid.

also resisted several 2nd albums by not-as-unfavourably-remembered-as-all-the-others Britpop bands so I'm a bit scared to go back in case my willpower is not as high next time

also resisted several 2nd albums by not-as-unfavourably-remembered-as-all-the-others Britpop bands so I'm a bit scared to go back in case my willpower is not as high next time

this.

there is a copy of the excellent delakota album in one of the ones near me ..
an album i truly love ..
hence very tempted for a spare/lend copy to prove to others how good ..

ok, trying CV by my computer again.

still not getting it ..

key track is 'pulling myself together' tbf, h8 that and you'd better abandon ship

have bought 1 album in poundland - 'i should coco'. still not heard it

worthy of a coin.

get the whole bands catalogue with change from a a fiver ..

curious about that William Orbit album, Mark. I'm only familiar with his production work for Madonna, Blur, etc. well, that and his adaptation of the Adagio for Strings. One to check out?

well, that and his adaptation of the Adagio for Strings

this is the opening track of the album.
the rest is more of the same.
i.e. perfect sunday morning/hangover bubbly orbit styled synths and strings.
well worthy of a coin if you get the chance.

oh, just for the record, no, i have no connection to the world of such outlets.
i just love the randomness.

Actually I think the Oxford one had the Delakota album and I didn't get it because I thought... well, you know. If I see it again I'll pick it up.

It also had the AC Acoustics album which I paused at briefly before remembering I already have 3 copies (bought LP cheap, found CD cheaper, was given another copy). I am somewhat willing to stick up for them as unfairly maligned/forgotten, but... not 4 copies' worth.

(NB I can't remember what the non-single tracks even sound like, and the best single wasn't on the album iirc)

i am biassed re delakota as most of that crew became the backing band/studio gurus for gorillaz, and had been the senseless things.

so, it was all part of the joining dots process.

that said, its a cracking slice of laid back sample heavy indie dance pop.

key track is 'pulling myself together' tbf, h8 that and you'd better abandon ship

never got this deep into the album due to lack of interest.
but damn.
this is immense ..

more attention required.

(Note to self about AC Acoustics: huh, they had FOUR albums. Who knew? I meant the second one though the first one would be a better find. I should shut up now)

I didn't know Delakota crew went on to be Gorillaz studio guys, was probably happier not knowing that tbh. I quite liked "Miss Parker" by M. Organ, have a vague feeling I may have seen the album in Poundland and not bought it too. Then again I see he went on to be in Miles Hunt's Vent 414, whose album I got for free and still felt ripped off by.

I quite liked "Miss Parker" by M. Organ

such a fun fun fun album !

and dont let the delakota = gorillaz put you off.

tis a cracking album.

if you buy it, and dont like it, i will compensate you.

genuine offer.

M Organ > Delakota, but both great. and Vent 414 was pre-Organ, so consider it a corrective move

M Organ > Delakota, but both great

agree !

Y'know Mark back in the day a local newsagents chain started flogging ex pub jukebox '45s for 10-20 pence a pop. That was my introduction to music via my parents, a lot more eclectic than you would think!

oh i bet.

the jukebox unloved 7" ...

who knows maybe, just maybe, somewhere there is a kid who happens to every saturday pick up a random cool cd using his weekly pocket money and joins the collector scum world of ilm ..

would much prefer this to be true than some old tight arsed f*ck like me making the most of broken britain ..

60 million people living here, it's got to be happening somewhere.

I know a kid who's just been given her first record player and who goes out looking in the bargain bins, don't know if she's picking at random, but it could be the start of something big and all-consuming.

and that excites me ..

a whole new era of bargain/pocket money friendly access to music ..

one that is judged on packaging/cover art/credits, and chance.

no itunes recommendations, no current spots on the hot blogs etc, just a kid with a coin in their pocket ..

It also had the AC Acoustics album which I paused at briefly before remembering I already have 3 copies (bought LP cheap, found CD cheaper, was given another copy).

solitary posts that effortlessly sum up the spirit of UK ILM

the Poundland in my endz is good for tupperware and sellotape but I've not explored its CD section. feel like there might have been a Dodgy album or something when I was there?

ahh ..
shed your cynicism and dive in.
treasures await.
and yes, dodgy feature a lot, but hey.

2013 finds in Poundland, Stratford Shopping Centre, E15.

The Shamen - Hystericool - The best of the alternate mixes (excellent comp, Moby and Renegade Soundwave mixes)
Womack & Womack - Conscience

Last visit in December yielded nothing though.

I always take a look at the DVD racks in Poundland. For whatever reason they usually have a handful of semi-obscure Anchor Bay horror DVDs amongst the trash.

Sometimes you can get good cds which, while not being bonafide studio albums, can be a nice way to discover an artist you haven't really heard before. I got a good Dean Martin collection from Poundland in 2012 which I listened to a lot over that summer.

Basically, there's gold in them there racks! Go get it!

I had a look in the Dalston one today, nothing particularly struck me but I see the potential. I used to buy a lot of books from Poundland, was once a good spot for prize-winners that turned out to have little popular appeal.

I say 'a lot' though really I mean one every couple of months.

and therein lies the fun.

finding a dan sartain release among the piles of crap ..

(not that there is much love for dan on ilm, but still )

also, suspect you have a lot more sharp eyed competition in dalston than i do in my countryside idyll

theres a DEALZ (kinda like poundland) shop in town which sells CDs - all from the late 90s to the early 00s - all for a euro. got some good stuff.

first delays album
SFA - rings around the world
orbital - in sides
janet jackson - the velvet rope

remarkably i picked up the kendrick lamar album and the last crystal castles album in a charity shop nearby

crystal castles !

now i would say thats a find

tell me more re delays as their albums are in plentitude and have always wondered what they are like.

bear in mind i love doves, and have no real aversion to well made indie pop ..

oooh, and i have seen plentiful copies of 'the velvet rope' available ..

should i drop a coin on that ?

I know zilch about Delays except this one song which is a great piece of shimmery La's-esque guitar pop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqRnGdD_WV4

ha wait, that video is a lot easier to watch when you're not looking at the pictures

I saw the Delays once, they were shit. But I have a pretty low tolerance for mainstream UK indie of the 2000s so I suppose I would think that.

We have some of this in the local Poundland but it's mostly the aforementioned indie landfill shite so I haven't really tried looking through it before - maybe I'll rectify that tomorrow.

like that delays track .

eek .. love the psych pop groove.

wasn't trevor horn involved at some point ?

that 1st delays album ("faded seaside glamour") is excellent, not landfill at all! i dont really like what ive heard of their later stuff though. the janet album isnt great, apart from 2 awesome tracks. its funny that Dealz shop is a horrible flashback to the landfill era though - terrorvision, zutons, gomez 2nd album, travis etc. will have a look next week to see if theres anything.

Second Delays album is ok. First two LPs co-produced by Graham Sutton. The Rock by Delakota is a perennial favourite.

It's been a mooted theme for our record club to "play something you bought in Poundland" for ages. Think we'll actually do it soon.

One day I'm going to walk into one of these places and there will be a clutch of Tzadik or ECM CDs waiting for me.

Instead of Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie

On the other end of the scale, my local HMV has a recent vinyl re-issue of the first Gomez album priced-to-sell at just £21.99. Only two copies remaining!

Lol

On the other end of the scale, my local HMV has a recent vinyl re-issue of the first Gomez album priced-to-sell at just £21.99. Only two copies remaining!
God, they really are fucking idiots, aren't they? They haven't learnt a thing from their recent administration.

My local Poundland (Hammersmith) is actually in the same store unit that HMV used to occupy. Maybe one day they'll have that Byrds single-CD best of that HMV had priced at £16 until they closed.

As far as I know HMV get all their vinyl on sale-or-return, so there's not that much incentive to price competitively.

well, surely there is the incentive to sell to get a few quid of profit ?

not hit my local hmv in a long time.

however, they do seem to have realised that metal is the boom genre as their metal section is very impressive.

a genre that rarely appears in the poundland selection ..

(why is that i wonder .. do metal fans not hand over the collection, or do magpie send certain genres elsewhere !?)

they dont get shitty nu metal that ppl are embarrassed they bought and sold it off?

would expect all that crap to be like 50p

The Exeter Poundland selection was risible. Tons of Athlete, Natalie Imbruglia, and Webb Brothers. And that Corrie actress who sang on a cruise ship.

and Webb Brothers

oi oi

these are good albums

there's a copy of Peter Gabriel's Last Temptation of Christ soundtrack in my local shop, which I would have bought had I not bought it for a few quid more off Amazon a week before I noticed it.

Some good stuff out and about, although sadly not come across the Merzbox just yet...

well, surely there is the incentive to sell to get a few quid of profit ?

I was maybe being a little unfair, but it's not as if they have any money tied up in that stock, so yes a few quid profit would be nice but they have less of disincentive to leave it sitting there at £22.

The Banbury branch has lots of Athlete and lots of the Brookside actress who sang on a cruise ship. There are a few copies of the Manics' Everything Must Go, one late-period Mercury Rev album and a handful of Richard-X's Vol 1.

Many copies of the 2007 Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band reunion album in the Glasgow Dumbarton Road shop

had a look inside Dealz today, a lot of stuff worth a shot but im completely skint right now. are any of these any good?:

midfield general - generalisation
primal scream - evil heat
the bees - sunshine hit me
monkey mafia - shoot the boss
kelis - kelis was here
secret machines - now here is nowhere (i know this is pretty good from what ive heard of it)
shy child - noise wont stop

evil heat is ok yeah

midfield general : depends on your take on big beat. this is one of the better of the artist albums on skint. worth it for 'reach out' alone.

primal scream : I like 'evil heat' a lot.

the bees : if I saw this, I would buy ..

monkey mafia : had this in the archive, never listened all way through as I get bored.

kelis : think I have this, but cant remember anything about it.

secret machines : go back and get this.

shy child : justice styled synths with indie dance type songs. if you enjoyed the first 'goose' album, or anything by infadels, etc then you may like this.

secret machines album is brilliant & a gr8 way 2 remember ben curtis by (prefer it to SVIIB but then I would)

I usually see at least a dozen really good albums but they're almost always things I bought in 2002 and haven't listened to since.

Did get Belinda Carlisle's Runaway Horses this morning though. One of the best records of the eighties IMO.

Any more successes?

went into my local poundland last week and the cd shelves were just about cleared out.

so, no.

either new shop policy, or someone was stocking their carboot boxes.

Fopp itself has cleared out all the second-hand vinyl, so some purchases I was going to make no longer exist now. :/ On the other hand, they're selling Vangelis CDs for £3 a pop...

I found the soundtrack to the Stargate film for 99p in a charity shop, so that was something a bit different. A film I remember enjoying in a vague way, so thought I'd splash out the pennies.

Thing I found in Poundland last year, which I had been semi-looking for since 1998 (and then forgot about buying until the Britpop thread sent me looking for mid-to-late 90s albums): D*Note's soundtrack to "Coming Down". I actually wanted to buy this in the 90s but had to settle for a VHS copy of the film instead, which I've only watched once.

What's it like after 15 years? Ehhh, 'sok. Steve Reich piano work imitations, dubby basslines, pleasing Paradinas/Orbital-esque synths and snare rushes on the last track (the one I wanted it for to begin with). Also obligatory 90s tabla samples, vibes and timestretching and a couple of tedious "oh yeah, we're making a soundtrack" stretches. Worth a quid, anyway.

Keep going to HMV looking for bargains but not finding any, though I did pick up a Stinking Lizaveta CD for £3 (who? Proggy math-ish metal which LJ might like, I guess). Oxford HMV was earmarked for closing down and has been "saved" but the non-chart CD section is now just a shoebox of reduced stuff, and when that goes... presumably only a top 40 CD section and the rest of the 3 floors will be all DVDs, Skull Candy headphones and whatever else HMV sells these days.

> whatever else HMV sells these days

superhero graphic novels, mugs.

Do they still sell chocolate bars and sweets, for The Fat Bastard Generation?

found a collection of greek folk/disco songs from the....70s/80s? last month on CD in a charity shop, quite good for what it is. £1.

Daniel Lanois' Acadie in a bookshop for £2... still need to give that a spin.

my latest haul from the British Heart Foundation:

Super Ape - Lee "Scratch" Perry & The Upsetters
Marcus Garvey/Garvey's Ghost - Burning Spear
D-Sides - Gorillaz
Prince Jammy - a compilation of the dub maestro

£2.99 for Perry and Jammy apiece, £1.99 for each of the other two.

jammy bugger.

some other obsessive who isn't me has been in there many times apparently, sweeping tons of good stuff from the shelves; perhaps I'm better off not knowing what I missed...

the last time I was there, I got the 30th anniversary edition of Culture's Two Sevens Clash, the first four Peter Gabriel albums, the second volume of the dub boxsets by Trojan and their "Producer Series" boxset, highlighting the work of various producers, including Perry.

there's also some "world" stuff published by Peter Gabriel's label still waiting there...

the last time I was there, I got the 30th anniversary edition of Culture's Two Sevens Clash .......

ok, you're pissing me off now ..

i never get such a groove .. just second rate pop/landfill ..

Oxford Poundland still has CDs. Finally remembered to buy the Delakota CD as discussed in this thread.

Reliving the 90s with that, the Deejay Punk-Roc album (big beat), Asian Dub Foundation, and Idlewild "Hope Is Important" from Poundland (and the Go! Team "Thunder Lightning Strike", not that it's 90s but fits with the big beat vibe I guess), plus CDs by Jon Carter, Ian Pooley, Smog and, errr, Finley Quaye for four-for-a-quid from a charity shop closing down sale.

Nothing ILX or indeed history remembers particularly fondly, but an afternoon of nostalgia for me, anyway.

I'll hear nothing said against ADF, the Go! Team or Smog (which Smog album was it?).

Where is Oxford Poundland? I only remember that Oxford doesn't really have record shops any more, unless Truck in Cowley Road is still going.

The Smog was only a single, Cold Blooded Old Times. The others were albums and the Jon Carter is a 2cd mix.

The big shop at the end of the Westgate in a straight line from the main entrance has been a Poundland for the past couple of years. (Trying to remember what it used to be; C&A maybe? It's changed hands several times since that closed too.)

The Truck shop is still going and is the only one left now the HMV's shut again, although Blackwell's moved its music dept across the road into what used to be the maps section and now stocks a token handful of rock/pop LPs, or maybe it only does so for Record Store Day but they hang around for the rest of the year too.

"Record Store Day but they hang around for the rest of the year" -- btw if this made it sound like a great place to snap up rarities which have sold out everywhere else I am fairly sure this is not the case, as they've never had anything I've wanted

Oh yes, I know where it is, that definitely used to be a C&A.

From memory Blackwell's Music section mainly stocked classical CDs with a bit of folk and jazz. Can't ever remember buying anything from it.

anyone who buys the delakota album will get my love.

that aside : good haul !

(and same re the go team .. )

Truck is great. It gives me somewhere to walk to in my lunch half-hour.